Category Archives: Sales

After much waiting the book, Trust Your Next Step, has finally launched and is on the bookshelves. It has been a whirlwind month and I finally feel I have a moment to breathe. The support and encouragement from my friends and community has been overwhelming – I truly feel the love and it was unexpected.

For much of the last 17 years I have built and run my business largely online. Marketing the book has been different in a few ways and I’d like to share a few tidbits with you.

Amazon is a different beast. As an author they have been incredibly easy to work with and helpful as I learn the ropes. However, unlike online sales through my website, I don’t know how many books I’ve sold until the publisher sends my royalty check in October!

Making friends with book buyers at local bookstores is fun. An exercise in who do I know that can introduce me to who I want to know.

Big differences in being a “local” author and self-publishing vs working with a publisher. Definitely are advantages and disadvantages to both. I choose to play with the big boys and not be a local author. So far that has not always worked in my favor at local bookstores.

I now know a lot more about negotiating with publishers and will do some things differently next time. Who knows a literary agent?

There is a world of ‘authors’, and there are folks who write books to grow their business and use their books as business cards. Not all of these books are well written, yet the purpose and the intention of the book is clear, it’s to support an overall structure and scalability of a business. Which am I and how do I show up has been a question I’m asking myself.

A month has passed and I’ve already done several things I will do differently next time. I won’t call them mistakes, just lessons I’ve learned about myself, what I want, and how I choose to show up and serve others in the world.

Introspection

As I write this I feel incredibly introspective as I mull where I stand and how I serve others. How big am I playing? Am I being true to myself? Could I, should I, have been more vulnerable in the book? How far am I going to push myself on this next book? Yes, I have started the next book – which takes chapter five, “The Stuff You’ve Got to Work With”, to a much deeper level.

I did my first book reading at a church. Which awes me. A few short years ago I not only didn’t go to church, but I had a hard time believing in God and struggled with organized religion. I had such a charge around all of it – of course I should have known all that “charge” was there for a reason. Exploring my truths about religion vs spirituality has been a big part of my journey the last six years. I now see that where I squirm the most is where the most reward is. Perhaps where I am supposed to be…

With that said, where are you squirming the most? Where are you staying within the boundaries set by others? Where are you not seeing the opportunity that most certainly surrounds you? Why are you not trusting yourself?

Are you ready to jump on the Podcasting Bandwagon? As predicted last year, podcasting itself is taking off like hotcakes! Now is a terrific time to take advantage of its surge in popularity, and there are several ways to do this.

First, let’s take a look at why this industry is so hot. Podcast listening grew by a phenomenal 23% from 2015-2016, according to study by Edison Research. As a small business owner producing a podcast is a fairly inexpensive, easy to produce tool to reach prospects. Beware not everyone can or should have their own podcast! Take it from my own experience, publishing a quality podcast takes time and dedication.

I wasn’t able to find any hard and true numbers, however, in 2013, iTunes reported they had 250,000 podcasts. I started mine in 2015, so we know the number is higher by at least one now :). Understand all of these show producers are actively seeking professionals to interview with topics their listeners are interested in. Some of them need you!

I started the Fresh Tracks with Kelly Robbins podcast in early 2015, and it was a much bigger project than I had expected! It’s time consuming, is a different way of selling than the e-zine and content writing I’d been doing for the previous 15 years, and requires skill-sets such as interviewing others and brainstorming topics to cover. All of which is much more time-consuming than I anticipated!

Don’t despair if producing a podcast isn’t your cup of tea! There are other ways you can jump on the podcasting bandwagon besides starting your own.

The best way to take advantage of the growing podcasting phenomenon is to be interviewed on a podcast as a featured guest.

Being interviewed is a terrific and inexpensive way to grow your business and position yourself as an expert! In the two years I’ve been producing the Fresh Tracks podcast I’ve interviewed some amazing guests. I’ve also interviewed some people that were incredibly BAD interviews. There is a definite right and wrong way to be a great guest and promote your business at the same time via a podcast or radio show.

Another way to take advantage of the podcasting boom is to advertise on a show. If there is a show you like or you know your clients listen to approach the show’s host and make an offer.

The growing podcast sensation is just one of the many new trends you can and should take advantage of in your marketing this year. Check out the other four in our free 2017 Marketing Planning Guide here now.

Don’t Let Poor Sales Skills Kill Your Thunder

There is one thing that will make or break your success in business and it’s your ability to sell. There is absolutely no way to get around it I don’t care what industry you are in or if you are a service provider or widget maker. Mastering sales is mandatory.

It’s interesting because when I write articles like this they are read less than average. Would you rather meditate than sell? It’s not going to bring in the money folks.

One of the first things I assess with my new coaching clients is where they stand on the sales skills spectrum.

Take this self-assessment and see if your poor sales skills are killing your thunder:

Do you love sales or do you avoid it?

Do you need to find more of the right people to talk to or are you not connecting with the ones they’ve got?

Do you think you are good at sales (but your revenue numbers say otherwise)?

When I say the big word….” sales” …. does your voice get small and you tell me you plan to hire people to do that for you because you don’t want to do it?

Do you hear sales and say ‘bring it on baby’.

There are two teachings here.

The first is for you to own that this is your company, no matter the size, and no one will ever be as passionate about your business and sell as well as you. Ever. This is your baby and no one will love it as much as you. So, you MUST embrace selling. When I worked in corporate America, the CEO of the fortune 50 company I worked for made sales visits. If he did it so should you! After you master sales you can train and hire people to do it for you, they will still never be as good as you.

The second point is that you can truly “sell without selling” and there is an authentic, personal, way to connect that comes from a place of serving others. Embracing sales is how you will share your unique gifts with the world.

Sales is about asking questions and learning the needs of the person you are talking to, not asking for money or pushing yourself on someone. Talking and telling all about yourself is not the name of the authentic game. In episode 44 of the Fresh Tracks with Kelly Robbins podcast, Fresh Tracker Judy Hoberman shares, sales is about building relationships, helping people solve their problems, and my favorite, being interested not interesting.

Your sales skills play an incredibly important role in your ability to make money and succeed in business. Don’t hide your head in the sand, think you are better than you really are, or try to get away with not doing it at all and continue to struggle in building your business.

I talk about sales with strength, yet with kid gloves. When done correctly with integrity and authenticity, sales is an amazing way to help people. There are so many formula’s and slick willy teachings about selling that don’t work because people are busy following the formula instead of being present to helping the person in front of them. They ultimately miss the mark.

It’s your time right now. Find a mentor to help you embrace selling and step into the powerful you that’s here to serve others!

Have you been talking about accomplishing a goal for a long time yet not getting there? Are you ready to discover more about creating your life with intention and purpose? I encourage you to step into the Your Dream Life free training and learn the 7 steps to creating Your Dream Life now!

Have you been talking about accomplishing a goal for a long time yet not getting there? Are you ready to discover more about creating your life with intention and purpose? I encourage you to step into the Your Dream Life free training and learn the 7 steps to creating Your Dream Life now!